1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for laundering and blocking hats and an elastomeric hat blocking form employed for that purpose.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hats that are formed of natural cloth, or in some cases synthetic fabrics, are very frequently constructed with cap portions that conform generally to the shape of the human head with a relatively stiff bill projecting from the forehead area of the cap to serve as a sunshield for the eyes of the wearer. Hats of this type are widely used in every walk of society. For example, hats constructed in this fashion are utilized for specific purposes such as golf hats, baseball caps, and also for general purpose headwear. While some hats of this type are cheaply constructed and are sold as throwaway items, more often a hat of this type represents a more substantial investment. Consequently, when the hat becomes dirty, the owner may well wish to clean it.
At present, satisfactory systems for cleaning hats at a relatively low cost have been unavailable. If the owner of the hat attempts to wash it with a conventional laundry detergent, the hat will very often shrink and become severely distorted when it dries. It is not unusual for a hat to shrink to the point where it will no longer fit the owner when laundered in this fashion. For this reason, many hat manufacturers include printed instructions on the hats warning the owner to attempt to clean the hat only by dry cleaning. However, this is rather expensive and the cost of the hat often does not justify the expense of dry cleaning it. Furthermore, dry cleaning chemicals can also permanently distort the shape of a hat and discolor it as well.
There are systems that have been devised for blocking hats so as to allow a hat to be cleaned without becoming permanently distorted. Several of these systems are described in the following issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,113,154; 4,491,256; 5,148,954; and 5,481,760. However, none of these systems allow a hat to be laundered using a conventional laundry detergent and then dried without some distortion of the hat.
The present invention provides a system for cleaning and blocking hats that allows a hat to be restored to an unsoiled condition while maintaining a near original condition of shape and stiffness at a minimal cost. The system of the invention allows hats to be cleaned by washing with a conventional laundry detergent without shrinking or any other distortion. The system of the invention may be used on wool or cotton caps and upon caps which are fitted or of adjustable sizes.
The system of the invention employs an elastomeric, foam hat blocking form which is a three-dimensional structure having an expansive, continuous outer surface that is rounded generally in the shape of the human head. This structure serves as a form upon which the hat is mounted after being washed with a laundry detergent. The elastomeric hat blocking form is made of a resilient, spongy, water impervious material that can be compressed somewhat to allow the hat to be mounted upon the form, and which will resiliently expand to the original shape of the hat.
The soiled hat is first hand washed with conventional laundry detergent and is thereafter mounted upon the form to dry. Because the form is resilient and compressible, and because it is partially compressed when inserted into the hat, it exerts outwardly directed forces throughout its outer surface that act against the inner surfaces of the hat into which it has been placed. As a result of these forces, the hat does not shrink and does not otherwise lose its shape.
Following laundering, the hat, while still damp, is placed upon the elastomeric hat blocking form of the invention where it is dried. Preferably, the hat is simply left to dry in the open, ambient air. If desired, after drying the hat may be sprayed with a hat spray formulation that aids in maintaining the original shape of the hat. One suitable hat spray product is QC formula #524-am-00. This hat spray is comprised of SD alcohol 40B, butyl ester of PVM/MA copolymer, isopropyl alcohol, and amino methyl propanol. After the hat has dried upon the form it is sprayed with this composition until slightly damp from it, and then is placed back on the elastomeric hat blocking form and left to dry again. When it air dries in about a half hour it is completely blocked and looks like new.
In one broad aspect the present invention may be considered to be a hat drying and blocking form comprised of a compressible and elastically resilient structure having a base delineating longitudinal and transverse axes of alignment and a crown having a continuous outer surface rising from the base and arcuately curved in both longitudinal and transverse directions for receiving a hat thereon while in a partially compressed condition. Preferably the drying and blocking form is further comprised of a flexible, polyurethane foam having a finished product density of between about 1.0 pounds per cubic foot and about 4.5 pounds per cubic foot. The polyurethane foam is preferably formed of a two-component system including a first polymeric isocyanate component and a second polyethylene polyol component. The first and second components are preferably mixed in a weight ratio of between about 33:67 to about 25:75. In the preferred formulation, the finished product foam density is about 2.5 pounds per square inch and the first and second components are mixed in a weight ratio of about 28:72.
There may be several variations in the geometric configuration of the form, depending upon the style all the. hat to be dried. For example, many popular hats are formed with a forwardly projecting hat bill and the forehead region of the crown extends upwardly in a near vertical orientation from the base of the bill where the bill projects out from the hat band. The preferred form of the invention for drying and blocking such hats has a base with an upwardly projecting crown having a forward, longitudinal end for receiving the forehead region of the hat and an aft longitudinal end for receiving the rear region of the hat. The forward, longitudinal end of the crown of the form rises abruptly from the base of the form and is curved sharply rearwardly at its upper extremity toward the center of the crown. The aft end of the crown of the form is more rounded than the forward end of the crown of the form.
A high profile drying and blocking form of this type may be constructed in different sizes. In one size of a high profile form suitable for drying and blocking hats having a hat size of between 6⅝ and 7xc2xc, the form has a maximum circumference at a distance of about one inch above the bottom of the base of about 23xc2xe inches. The maximum height of this form occurs at the center of the crown about six inches above the base. Larger size hats from 7xe2x85x9c to 8 will require a form having a maximum circumference about three inches longer, that is about 26xc2xe inches. The maximum height of the form for these larger, high profile hats does not change.
Other popular styles of hats have a somewhat different configuration and may be more properly classified as rounded or standard, as opposed to high profile. The standard types of baseball caps, while having a slightly steeper aspect at the forehead region than at the rear region, are considerably more rounded in the forehead area than the high profile hats. The maximum circumference and the height of such forms suitable for hats with a hat size of between about 6⅝ and 7xc2xc is about the same as for the high profile form. That is, the maximum circumference of a standard form for such small and medium-sized hats is also about 23xc2xe inches and the maximum height at the center of the crown is also about six inches. The difference between the two forms is that the front end of the standard form is more rounded than the front end of the high profile form. Similarly, for larger size hats of 7xe2x85x9c to 8, the maximum circumference of the standard profile form for larger size hats, like its high profile counterpart, is also about 26xc2xe inches and the maximum height is also about six inches.
Considerable variations in dimensions are possible and even appropriate for different styles of hats. Typically the maximum height of the crown of the form extending up from the base is between about five and about seven inches.
In another broad aspect the invention may be considered to be the combination of a hat and a hat drying and blocking form. The hat has a hat band for encircling and contacting the head of a wearer and a hat crown having forehead and rear regions extending upwardly from the hat band to rest atop the crown of the head of a wearer. The hat drying and blocking form is comprised of a compressible and elastically resilient structure having a base and an arcuately curved crown projecting upwardly from the base and having an exposed, continuous, arcuate convex surface. The hat drying and blocking form is inserted into the hat and resides within the hat in a partially compressed condition with the hat band encircling the form and with the crown of the hat located in contact with the exposed convex surface of the crown of the form. The partially compressed form thereby exerts outwardly directed forces against the hat. The crown of the hat has an inner surface area that resides in contact with at least a large part of the crown of the hat drying and blocking form. Preferably the crown of the hat rho is in contact throughout with the crown of the hat drying and blocking form.
In still. another broad aspect the invention may be considered to be a method of blocking and drying hats which have a hat band for encircling and contacting the head of a wearer and a hat crown for extending over the crown of the head of a wearer comprising several steps. The steps include washing the hat with a laundry detergent; inserting into the hat while it is still damp a compressible and elastically resilient hat drying and blocking form having a form base and an arcuately curved, continuous form crown projecting upwardly from the form base by partially compressing the form so that the hatband encircles the form and the crown of the hat resides in contact with the crown of the hat form while partially compressing the hat form; releasing the hat form within the hat so that it remains in a partially compressed state and thereby exerts outwardly directed forces on the hat form while the hat remains mounted on the hat form; allowing the hat to dry; and removing the hat from the form once the hat has dried fully. Preferably the hat is allowed to dry in ambient air. If desired, the hat may be sprayed with a liquid hat blocking composition after it has been allowed to dry.